Krištof Kintera
Postnaturalia
Artist
Krištof Kintera
(1973, Praha), Czech
Original Title
Postnaturalia
Date2016-2017
Mediuminstallation (mixed media)
Dimensions10 × 12 m
Classificationsinstallations
Credit LineKunsthalle Praha
CopyrightCollezione Maramotti, Reggio Emilia
Image Copyright
Collezione Maramotti, Reggio Emilia
DescriptionKrištof Kintera is an internationally renowned Czech artist. He primarily approaches art as a tool for reflecting the relation between humans and nature, between the future of our planet and human existence on it. His installations and objects often react to the incessant growth of consumerist culture, with Kintera perceiving its impact on Czech society already since the early post-revolutionary 1990s. His artistic style ranges from minimalist to markedly eclectic. However, it always incorporates elements of handicraft rooted in DIY, model building, and working with electronics, giving his works an unmistakable “punk” aesthetic. In his pieces, Kintera finds new uses for a diverse range of objects such as dead batteries, scrap metal, various plastics, old televisions, computers and their components, and other types of waste materials. His use of sound and movement allows his artworks to dominate the surrounding space and target the viewer’s emotions while simultaneously, for instance, demonstrating the dangers of artificial intelligence, which has the potential to outstrip human intelligence. Already his piece Talker (1999), a child-sized robot, thematized the future of the human body and corporeality in relation to new discoveries in science and biotechnology, as well as the question of technological waste and our disposal of it. Kintera effortlessly combines humor with irony, banal elements with pressing topics and problems of the present, thus imbuing his art with manifold layers of meaning open to various interpretations. One of Kintera’s recurrent themes is reflection on the superficiality of contemporary consumer society, with his use of recycled materials raising questions regarding sustainability and relevancy within the context of eroding biodiversity, global environmental threats, and society-wide moral decay.
In this extensive sculptural installation titled Postnaturalia (2016–2017), Kintera thematizes the transformation of the world as well as the relation between natura and civilization and the possibilities of their potential compatibility and incompatibility. Postnaturalia was inspired by Kintera’s visit to the Musei Civici, a fascinating museum of 19th century anthropology located in the historic center of Reggio Emilia, Italy. The resultant instillation comprises synthetic materials, electrical components, cables, and old screens. It sprawls into space, revealing to the viewer a system of electrical circuits and tubes, giving the appearance of a living, expanding organism while also resembling an artificial rug composed of various plants growing from copper roots. The piece spotlights the similar functioning of these two types of matter, regardless of whether they are fueled by nutrients or electricity. Copper is an inseparable part of our lives, found in all technological components and facilitating the perpetual expansion of the digital world and the incessant transmission of data. The title Kintera chose for these technological plants draws inspiration from Latin taxonomy. This new nature represents the new era of media and facilitates transfers of energy and information, the expansiveness of which is irreversibly transforming the delicate harmony of fauna and flora. Simultaneously, it can engender, at the very least, a degree of recognition of our environmental footprint and its extent.
Krištof Kintera (born 1973, Prague) graduated from the Academy of Fine Arts in Prague. During his studies, he absorbed the influences of his diverse studio tutelage, learning from Michael Bielický, Milan Knížák, Aleš Veselý, and Jiří Lindovský, which bolstered the distinctive intermedia character of his artistic expression. During his studies, Kintera also studied abroad on scholarships at Ohio State University in Columbus, Ohio (1995), Germations X in Birmingham (1997), and, thanks to a scholarship from the Jana and Milan Jelinek Foundation, at the Villa Waldberta in Germany (2001). Later, Kintera attended postgraduate studies at the Rijksakademie van Beeldende Kunsten in Amsterdam from 2003 to 2004. His work received a prize at the 2nd Prague Biennale (2005) and an honorary prize from the Soros Center for Contemporary Art in Bratislava (1996); Kintera was also repeatedly a finalist of the Jindřich Chalupecký Prize (1999, 2001, 2003). The first solo exhibitions of his work took place at the Prague City Gallery (Talker) and the National Gallery Prague (Painting Is Watching You) in 1999. Other important exhibitions of his work have included Results of Analysis at the Prague City Gallery (2012), I Am Not You at the Tinguely Museum in Basel (2014), Your Light is My Life at Kunsthal Rotterdam (2015) and Nervous Trees at the Galerie Rudolfinum in Prague (2017). One of the most significant group exhibitions Kintera took part in was After the Wall, which showed at the Moderna Museet in Stockholm, the Ludwig Museum in Budapest, and the Hamburger Bahnhof in Berlin during 1999 and 2000. Subsequent notable group exhibitions featuring Kintera’s work took place at the Palais de Tokyo in Paris (Five Billion Years, 2006), the Biennale des Künstlerverbundes at the Haus der Kunst in Munich (codes, 2015), the NEMO – Biennale des Arts Numeriques in Paris (2019), the 22nd Milan Triennial (Broken Nature, 2019), the Galleria Nazionale in Rome (You Got to Burn to Shine, 2019), the Quebec Biennale (Small Between the Stars, Large Against the Sky, 2019), and at Kunsthalle Tübingen (Supernatural, 2020–2021). Kintera’s work can be found in institutions such as at the Ludwig Museum in Budapest, the Museum der Modern in Salzburg, the Fogg Art Museum of Harvard University in Boston, the Museum of Contemporary Art (MOCAK) in Krakow, the National Gallery Prague, and the Prague City Gallery, as well as in numerous private collections such as the Borghossian Foundation in Brussels, the Collezione Maramotti, the Barbierato Collection, and the Rubel Family Collection in Miami, Jerry Speyer Collection in New York City, and the COLLETT Prague | Munich collection.
In this extensive sculptural installation titled Postnaturalia (2016–2017), Kintera thematizes the transformation of the world as well as the relation between natura and civilization and the possibilities of their potential compatibility and incompatibility. Postnaturalia was inspired by Kintera’s visit to the Musei Civici, a fascinating museum of 19th century anthropology located in the historic center of Reggio Emilia, Italy. The resultant instillation comprises synthetic materials, electrical components, cables, and old screens. It sprawls into space, revealing to the viewer a system of electrical circuits and tubes, giving the appearance of a living, expanding organism while also resembling an artificial rug composed of various plants growing from copper roots. The piece spotlights the similar functioning of these two types of matter, regardless of whether they are fueled by nutrients or electricity. Copper is an inseparable part of our lives, found in all technological components and facilitating the perpetual expansion of the digital world and the incessant transmission of data. The title Kintera chose for these technological plants draws inspiration from Latin taxonomy. This new nature represents the new era of media and facilitates transfers of energy and information, the expansiveness of which is irreversibly transforming the delicate harmony of fauna and flora. Simultaneously, it can engender, at the very least, a degree of recognition of our environmental footprint and its extent.
Krištof Kintera (born 1973, Prague) graduated from the Academy of Fine Arts in Prague. During his studies, he absorbed the influences of his diverse studio tutelage, learning from Michael Bielický, Milan Knížák, Aleš Veselý, and Jiří Lindovský, which bolstered the distinctive intermedia character of his artistic expression. During his studies, Kintera also studied abroad on scholarships at Ohio State University in Columbus, Ohio (1995), Germations X in Birmingham (1997), and, thanks to a scholarship from the Jana and Milan Jelinek Foundation, at the Villa Waldberta in Germany (2001). Later, Kintera attended postgraduate studies at the Rijksakademie van Beeldende Kunsten in Amsterdam from 2003 to 2004. His work received a prize at the 2nd Prague Biennale (2005) and an honorary prize from the Soros Center for Contemporary Art in Bratislava (1996); Kintera was also repeatedly a finalist of the Jindřich Chalupecký Prize (1999, 2001, 2003). The first solo exhibitions of his work took place at the Prague City Gallery (Talker) and the National Gallery Prague (Painting Is Watching You) in 1999. Other important exhibitions of his work have included Results of Analysis at the Prague City Gallery (2012), I Am Not You at the Tinguely Museum in Basel (2014), Your Light is My Life at Kunsthal Rotterdam (2015) and Nervous Trees at the Galerie Rudolfinum in Prague (2017). One of the most significant group exhibitions Kintera took part in was After the Wall, which showed at the Moderna Museet in Stockholm, the Ludwig Museum in Budapest, and the Hamburger Bahnhof in Berlin during 1999 and 2000. Subsequent notable group exhibitions featuring Kintera’s work took place at the Palais de Tokyo in Paris (Five Billion Years, 2006), the Biennale des Künstlerverbundes at the Haus der Kunst in Munich (codes, 2015), the NEMO – Biennale des Arts Numeriques in Paris (2019), the 22nd Milan Triennial (Broken Nature, 2019), the Galleria Nazionale in Rome (You Got to Burn to Shine, 2019), the Quebec Biennale (Small Between the Stars, Large Against the Sky, 2019), and at Kunsthalle Tübingen (Supernatural, 2020–2021). Kintera’s work can be found in institutions such as at the Ludwig Museum in Budapest, the Museum der Modern in Salzburg, the Fogg Art Museum of Harvard University in Boston, the Museum of Contemporary Art (MOCAK) in Krakow, the National Gallery Prague, and the Prague City Gallery, as well as in numerous private collections such as the Borghossian Foundation in Brussels, the Collezione Maramotti, the Barbierato Collection, and the Rubel Family Collection in Miami, Jerry Speyer Collection in New York City, and the COLLETT Prague | Munich collection.
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